Penguins reward the fans who had faith

I remember watching the Penguins play the Islanders at the Coliseum earlier this season and thinking, these guys don't look that good at all. The Pens were the defending Eastern Conference champions, and had two all-world players in Sidney Crosby and Yvgeni Malkin, and yet there was something missing.

Well, they found it. They fired their coach in mid-February after four months of uninspired play and replaced him with Dan Bylsma of Wilkes-Barre (I know, "Who?!"), then added Bill Guerin for a conditional draft pick, and the march was on. They rallied to beat the Capitals and Alexander Ovetchkin in seven games, got a vacation with a four-game sweep of Carolina, then resurrected themselves from a 2-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals to beat the Red Wings in seven, winning the final game on the road.

Wow.

So congratulations to Guerin, who was given a shot to win another Cup and got it, along with ex-Islanders teammates Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Like the Blackhawks and the Bruins, the Penguins also provide Islanders fans with hope. Another team that was dismal a couple of seasons ago, now winning games and giving their fans plenty to get excited about. The Pens also were in danger of leaving Pittsburgh if they didn't get a new arena.

They got their building -- it's going up right across the street from the Igloo, in fact -- and now they have the Stanley Cup.

Coincidence? Charles Wang probably doesn't think so.

Game recap: Islanders 4, Penguins 1

When I golf, I find I play much better against good players, like my man Frank Pasquale, and when I'm paired up with other duffers, we slog around the course like a bunch of Al Czerviks. The level of play is raised by better competition.

I guess that's the deal with the Islanders, because just a couple of days after improving to 6-1 against the Devils, the Islanders blasted the division-leading Penguins, 4-1, at home and in front of a national television audience. Sure, there was a 3-1 loss to Philly in between, but the Isles were done in by the power play that night, and hey, you can't win 'em all.

With so many young players fighting for 2008-09 roster spots, it was nice to see the veterans step up, with goals by Guerin, Park and Hunter, the last one created by Satan's superior effort. Bergenheim also scored and he's fast becoming a favorite. Dubie also played strong after getting the Flyers game off.

A couple of side notes for you: With so many eyes looking ahead to the draft, here's an interesting story by ESPN.com's Scott Burnside on the sorry state of the Atlanta Thrashers. The best part is that Ilya Kovalchuk's contract runs out in two years. Now, everyone will be after him and why wouldn't a superstar like him want to play for the Rangers? But Charles Wang threw a ton of cash at Yashin and isn't afraid of the big contract (D.P.). Hey, we can dream, right?

Also, you may have seen the video but what Jonathan Roy -- son of Patrick -- did in a QMJHL game the other day was disgusting. Thankfully, his cheap shot has been punished by the league, and so was Papa Roy, who denied that his gesture from the bench was meant to encourage his son to charge the opposing goalie at the other end of the ice. Roy senior was one of the all-time greats, but he and his son apparently have a lot to learn about sportsmanship and class.

Trade deadline day madness

So at 4:07 p.m., more than an hour past the NHL trade deadline, the burning question for me was -- WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON IN ROOM SIX?

You see, unlike five of my Blog Box brethren, I had to follow the deadline day doings from work while they got to spend the day at the Coliseum, rubbing elbows with the likes of Newsday's Jim Baumbach as they monitored the day's events. So like a good little Blog Boxer I kept tabs on all their blogs, as well as ESPN.com, TSN.ca, SI.com.

So on Baumbach's blog and on The Tiger Track, right around 3:30 they say that everyone was called into Room 6. Was it to talk to Ted Nolan or Garth Snow about the trades involving Marc-Andre Bergeron, Chris Simon and Rob Davison? Was there bigger news coming?

I had no clue and it was KILLING ME ... until Baumbach posted an update at 4:15 that they talked with Snow about the deals, and how he said there was one big deal he tried to do that fell through that involved a player that ended up not getting traded anywhere. Bryan McCabe? The return of Olli Jokinen? Perhaps we will never know.

So, as to the trades that DID happen -- no surprises. A couple of small deals, all solid. Bergeron has been expendable almost from day one this season and has been a defensive liability. The fans' reaction to Chris Simon sealed his fate but he also had no role on this team any more. Getting a third-round and sixth-round pick for the two of them in a deep draft is good business. Dealing a seventh-round pick for Davison to add needed blue line depth was also a no-brainer.

The biggest news was the signing of Mike Comrie to a one-year deal, which took him off the table. Comrie brings plenty to the club, is the team's leading scorer and is a Nolan favorite. He's been essential in the team's recent resurgence and I'm glad he's staying.

Fedotenko, Vasicek and Satan were all rumored to be available but they're not going anywhere now, so this is your team heading into the final stretch. It's a team that will be without Sillinger for the rest of the way, and that hurts, but I've always liked this group of players and we'll see how they respond now that the deadline is passed.

The biggest deal of the day came at the deadline, with Marian Hossa going to the Pens, who are tonight's opponent. So the trade deadline could help the Isles in the very short term, as the Pens will be shorthanded without the three guys they dealt, no Hossa (unless he's on a flight RIGHT NOW) and Sid the Kid still hurt.

It would be great to see the Isles come out blazing at home tonight and grab two points against Pittsburgh for their seventh win in eight games. Faceoff in 2 hours and 30 minutes and counting...

And to the Blog Boxers who toiled all day -- great job, and thanks for helping me keep tabs on all the action. You lucky stiffs.

Game recap: Islanders 3, Capitals 2 (OT)

OK, so they only scored three again, and they lost the lead with less than a minute to play in regulation, but the Islanders still prevailed and sent the home crowd to the Christmas break happy with a 3-2 overtime win.

What you have to like about this team is that there are so many players that you want to root for. Take Richard Park. He never takes a shift off and he does pretty much whatever Ted Nolan asks him to. And with every shift he's taken on more responsibility, and is now much more than a fourth-liner and penalty killer. He played up with Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin tonight, and the line put in two of the Isles' three goals.

Park's game-winner came off a faceoff win -- again, the little things -- and was aided by the fact that Caps defenseman Mike Green accidentally got hit in the face by teammate Jeff Schultz as Park worked the puck. With Green down behind the net, Park took a wrister from the left circle and found the five-hole, igniting the pandemonium.

Miro Satan, as he did the night before, got the Isles up 1-0 with a second-period wrister. The Caps evened the score and it was 1-1 late in the third when Chris Campoli fired a blast at Olaf Kolzig. Bill Guerin was there for the rebound -- he's coming around again -- with what looked to be the game-winner. But Washington stunned the house when, with Kolzig pulled, the dangerous Alex Ovetchkin beat Rick DiPietro, forcing OT.

Credit Radek Martinek and the Islanders' defense for not only limiting Ovetchkin all night, the way they did against Sidney Crosby the night before, but for holding the Caps to just 14 shots on goal. Kudos also to Chris Botta, who was honored for 20 years with the team. Nice work, Chris -- you've been great to us bloggers and the Isles are lucky to have you.

In other news, an interesting take on the Kyle Okposo situation in the New York Times. I couldn't agree more.

And Nolan had extra reason to smile Saturday night when son Brandon made his NHL debut for the Carolina Hurricanes, where of course he plays for ex-Isles coach Peter Laviolette. Brandon got an assist on Carolina's first goal in its 4-1 victory.

So with no games until after Christmas Day, allow Still Drivin' to wish a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Game recap: Islanders 4, Penguins 2

Break out the New Year's champagne early, folks. The Islanders finally broke the three-goal barrier. That they won on the road against the division-rival Penguins is perhaps more important than the goal total, but when you look at how this team has struggled offensively, it's nice to have finally popped that cork.

Since November 1, a 23-game stretch, the Isles had not scored more than three goals in a game. Two-goal leads may as well have been 20. But now Blake Comeau is in the house. In his second game with the big club the 21-year-old assisted on Andy Hilbert's game-tying goal and scored what proved to be the game-winner with a slap shot midway through the third. Just 37 seconds later, Trent Hunter gave the Isles a two-goal lead to secure the victory.

A quick primer on Blake Comeau (not to be confused with Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo or Lake Como, the Italian Rivera resort where George Clooney lives large with supermodels): He helped Team Canada win gold at the 2003 U18 tournament in Russia, and then led the Kelowna Rockets win the Memorial Cup a year later. In 2005, Comeau scored 21 goals with 53 assists for 74 points in 60 games, and also helped Canada win gold at the IIHF Under 20 World Championships, leading the team in points under head coach Brent Sutter. So the guy is a winner.

He had 12 goals and 31 assists for 43 points with the Sound Tigers last season. He wasn't exactly setting Bridgeport on fire this season, with three goals and six helpers in 25 games, but he has a great opportunity now with Chris Simon suspended for 30 games.

Comeau teamed with Hilbert and Tim Jackman for a productive line, while Miro Satan scored 44 seconds into the game for his fourth point (three goals) in four games against the Pens this season.

Up next, the Capitals tonight at the Coliseum in what Isles fans hope will be an early Christmas present. Hope to see many, many of you there!

Game recap: Rangers 4, Islanders 2

Eleven games and counting where the Islanders have scored no more than twice. Remarkably, they are 5-5 with an overtime loss in that stretch, which says a lot about the defense and the play of Rick DiPietro. But you wonder how much longer the team can tread water when a third goal by the opposition equals a loss.

You kind of knew beating the Rangers would be tough one night after a big win over the Senators. Toss in the fact that the game was at the Garden, and that the Rangers were supremely motivated to win after dropping the first three meetings of the season. Sure enough, they jumped out on top on a goal by Jaromir Jagr. Miro Satan got the equalizer early in the second, but two more goals by the Rangers threatened to blow the game open. Mike Comrie's wrister late in the second got the Isles within one again -- but that also meant they had reached their goal quota for the game.

Again, the power play (can we really call it that any more) was a major culprit, going scoreless in four chances, including a 29-second, 5-on-3 advantage in the first.

We mentioned it in one of the early blog posts this season, but the Islanders just don't have that one scorer who scares you, or who can carry a team when they need it. So you figure if Garth Snow has a Christmas list, a sniper is at the top.

The ugliness came courtesy of Ryan Hollweg, who showed again how classless he is by threatening to rip open the fresh stitches in Radek Martinek's face. Martinek caught a skate blade the night before, but played with 15 stitches nonetheless. Of course, Hollweg saw the wound as a target, and displayed his intelligence by telling Martinek he would rip them open when they met in scrum along the boards.

When Simon slashed Hollweg in the face, it was a bad split-second decision by a player who has always been highly regarded by his teammates. Hollweg, however, thinks about his violence before inflicting it, and is as much of a lowlife as anyone in the league. If the NHL is serious about protecting its players (and some of Colin Campbell's "punishments" make you wonder), it will sit Hollweg for a few games.

Not that it would make much of a difference to Hollweg.

LIVEBLOG: Islanders 3, Rangers 2

Lots of juice for tonight's game, with both teams coming in hot; the Isles winners of four of their last five, the Rangers off a 5-1 homestand and playing stingy defense with their effective if not so entertaining trap. Also plenty of rough stuff expected on and off the ice. Fellow bloggers Tom Liodice and Mike Carey have set the over-under for fights in the stands at five. I'm taking the over.

This is actually the first Islanders-Rangers game I've been to in person in a couple of years and the place is rocking already as we await the puck to drop. Always depressing to see so many opposing jerseys in the crowd for a home game but that's the Isles' lot in life, so we deal with it. Still sucks, though.

Sillinger, Hilbert and Guerin out for the faceoff and here we go!

D.P. in goal to everyone's relief, and the Rangers are buzzing him early. Comrie with a chance for the Isles but can't keep the puck on his stick.

Almost five minutes in and we're still waiting for the first big hit - Hilbert almost had one on Staal but didn't get all of him. Comrie again in the middle of it, can't slide the puck across to Fedotenko, then D.P. stones Nigel Dawes - the pace is picking up. The teams at one point played six minutes without a whistle.

Just heard the first Potvin chant, in our own building. Inevitable, but it still hurts. I know we have the revised, anti-Ranger "When you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" chant, but that one isn't enough for me. And the chicken dance is too obvious (plus, there's too much to explain to my 5-year-old). We need to come up with something a little sharper. There's your homework for tonight.

By the way, the Ice Girls just cleared the slush away from Henrik Lundqvist's crease without incident. Nice to see Henrik's grown as a person.

DiPietro stops Hossa in close with under 6 minutes left. Give the Rangers the edge in period one - they've had more of a presence in the offensive end and their chances have been more dangerous. Of course, as I type that Guerin has two good chances with around 3 minutes left. Then Comrie - again, in the middle of things - passes to Hunter in the left circle, he dekes but can't get it past Lundqvist with 2:13 on the clock.

Sutton takes a run at Prucha and just misses, so of course Prucha answers by boarding Richard Park with 1:26 left, Isles on the power play. Staal flattens Campoli on the far boards, period ends scoreless. Call round one a draw, with the two teams even on points with no knockdowns.

Second period about to start - here's something fun: Guy sitting in front of me has an Avery jersey. Guy in front of him has a DiPietro sweater on, holding up a sign that says, "Avery, you suck!"

Speaking of Mr. Olsen Twin, someone needs to tell him that stickhandling is not his forte. He ragged the puck from center ice, back into his own zone, looking ... looking, before dropping a backhand pass to no one that Sillinger picked off. No goal by the Isles, though.

Good chance by Ben Walter on the backhand, high shot hits Lundqvist in the shoulder. Then Sillinger another high shot stopped ... Witt levels Dawes in the Isles end, starts a break the other way but Comrie holds onto the puck through the high slot and can't get a good shot off. Pace hasn't changed from the first.

By the way, there's a certain free agent acquisition on the visitors who hasn't made much of an impression so far. Don't want to mention him by name as that would be a sure jinx, but he played last year across the river in the land of the Sopranos. Hope that narrows it down for you.

Scramble in front, D.P. covers the puck and there's shoving. We're seeing a bit more of that as the game goes on. By the way, that's recent Bridgeport call-up Tim Jackman, not Hugh, playing on the line with Simon and Walter. He has a chance in the crease but can't push it under Lundqvist.

Fedotenko called for tripping - dubious. Sure enough, Chris Drury scores with the man advantage, going five-hole on a slap shot from the left point off a pass from Mara. 1-0 Rangers. (I was thinking that Drury hadn't done much, either - then he scores.)

Jagr left alone in the circle on a 3-on-3 and the Rangers almost take a two-goal lead. Guernin veered off him - a mistake. Have to be aware of where Jagr is at all times.

Third period, Isles down by one. The Rangers played a tough game last night so you'd think the Isles would be the fresher team. First altercation of the night finally happened up in section 338, and we have an ejection. The under is looking good right now, but there's plenty of time left. I'm sitting tight with the over.

Hunter scores to tie it, his fourth goal of the season. Nice play by Fedotenko breaking in down the left wing, then sliding the puck to Hunter in the right circle, converting at the 1:11 mark. New ballgame, people. Satan with a good chance moments later, but Staal covers the open side of the net and blocks it.

Rangers answer, Jagr dishing to Dubinski at the right post but DiPietro drags the left pad and smothers it. But the Rangers regain the lead when Avery (damn) makes a nice pass to Mara, who snuck in from the point and was alone on the doorstep to deflect it past DiPietro. Jackman called for hooking at 5:54, and the Rangers best chance to add to the lead occurs when Jagr finds Drury for another slapper - D.P. gets a piece of it, then blocks a second chance at the right post.

Isles kill it - then Sutton is whistled for interference while Prucha is called for holding. Four-on-four action! Not for long - Girardi (not Joe, Dan) gets the box for high-sticking - four-on-three!

Comrie -- is he involved in EVERY scoring chance? -- holds the puck, drifting through the slot, then finds a wide-open Fedotenko, who just buries it. It's 2-2, a new game again.

DiPietro with the touchdown pass to Sillinger at the opposite blue line, he doesn't score. Can't see a damn thing since everyone is standing in front of me and Fedotenko's mug is on the big screen as his goal is announced. I guess Lundqvist made the stop. Wild.

SATAN! Isles take the lead! Vasicek starts the play by stealing the puck from Girardi and moving in for a shot. Isles keep it in and Satan is open in the high slot, and he fires a wrister that finds the top left corner. Great shot by Satan, who is really heating up. (FYI - two more fights in the stands in the last few minutes. It's getting testy up there.)

More fun blog facts - when the horn sounds after a goal, it's so loud my laptop freezes up for a second or two.

DiPietro stellar - stops Drury, then Dawes in front, then deflects the puck from Strudwick in the goalmouth with just over three minutes left. Rangers fans can yell "Suck!" all they want after the D.P. chant - he just came up HUGE.

Oszival called for holding with 2:05 left and even though the Isles are at home I'm half-expecting the make-up call. Isles work most of the advantage in the Rangers zone, but then with the goalie pulled and Jagr behind the net, Hunter is called for a penalty with 18.8 seconds left. Can't call it a make-up call, though.

Final chance for Rangers - the shot from the point by Drury goes wide, and that's it - YOUR FINAL SCORE: Islanders 3, Rangers 2.

Isles improve to 8-4 on the season and are now tied for first place in the division with the Flyers, with another divisional home game Saturday against the Devils.

POSTGAME INTERVIEWS:

Tim Jackman

ON WHAT NOLAN TOLD THE TEAM BEFORE THE THIRD PERIOD: Just keep to our game plan and keep working hard. I was in the trainer's room getting stitched up, though, so I missed most of it. (Jackman had a nasty gash below his right eye)

ON PLAYING IN AN ISLANDERS-RANGERS GAME: Unbelievable atmosphere out there. The fans were into it. A great experience.

ON FORCING THE ISSUE AGAINST A TEAM THAT HAD PLAYED THE NIGHT BEFORE: The key thing was to get the puck deep in their end and make them work. It takes three periods. I thought we played well and it was a great win.

ON PLAYING THE FOURTH LINE WITH SIMON AND BEN WALTER: I thought we played well. I played with Simon a couple of exhibition games, so I think we were on the same page.

Jackman added that he was told Monday afternoon that he'd be playing on the big club.

Ted Nolan

I thought we played a real strong game going into the third period. Ricky certainly made some big, big saves for us. But this was a total team effort.

We wanted to roll four lines and see what happens. The fourth line played real well tonight. This is a really good character-type of team.

ON SATAN: The last couple of games, he's hot. And it's a good time now because we get to play a lot. We have three lines that can pop some goals in for us.

The biggest play was when Ricky shut the door with a 3-2 lead.

ON WALTER AND JACKMAN: Both of those guys deserved an opportunity and they're taking advantage of it.

ON HUNTER: He may not have a letter on his shoulder, but he's definitely one of our leaders.

ON THE TEAM'S MAKEUP: Garth did a tremendous job getting some character guys over the summer ... So far, so good.

Game recap: Al Arbour Night - Islanders 3, Penguins 2

Inviting Al Arbour back behind the Islanders' bench one more time so he could reach 1,500 games as the team's head coach was certainly an honor for the Hall of Famer and must have been a wonderful experience for his family, which was on hand in impressive numbers in the post-game ceremony.

(For incredible coverage of the game and festivities, check out the reports filed by my fellow bloggers in the NYI Blog Box.)

But for the fans, this brainchild of Ted Nolan provided us the opportunity not only to see Radar - with his ever-present glasses and notebook in his hand - at the helm of the Islanders once more, but to reflect on his career and truly appreciate what a great coach, and person, he is.

When the Islanders first raised the '739' banner in 1997, emcee Clark Gillies introduced Arbour as "the greatest coach in the history of hockey," and while that could be debated, there's no question he is in the NHL pantheon. That was underscored by the presence of Scotty Bowman, who gave Arbour his first coaching job with the Blues. Bowman was a surprise guest tonight and dropped the ceremonial puck with former GM Bill Torrey, and Bowman later said that as a player, Arbour was like a coach on the ice.

Arbour won three Stanley Cups as a player, a shot-blocking defenseman despite wearing glasses, which tells you all you need to know about how tough he was. As a coach, Arbour was one of the first to use film and video to break down games and scout the opposition, and he took pride in staying calm, cool and collected on the bench. But his players will tell you that Arbour knew how to lay down the hammer, with what has been described as a "paint-peeling baritone" of a voice.

The numbers alone say it all. His 1,500 games and 740 wins as Islanders coach are NHL records for a coach with one team, and no one else comes close. Four Cups, five straight appearances in the finals and 19 consecutive playoff series victories truly define a dynasty. But another of the joys of this one-game celebration was hearing the stories about the things that set Arbour apart, and perhaps the most famous one concerned the fifth and final game of the 1982 first-round playoff series against Pittsburgh.

Down 3-1 with less than six minutes left and the chance at a third straight championship on the line, the Islanders were about to go on the power play when Arbour changed goalies, taking off Billy Smith and sending out Rollie Melanson. It was classic Arbour, using the Melanson warmup to give his top-ranked power play a bit more rest. Sure enough, Mike McEwen scored to cut the gap to one, and then John Tonelli scored the tying goal in the third period and then game-winner in overtime, keeping the dynasty alive.

And looking up at the '739' banner, and the Torrey banner, and the names SMITH, POTVIN, BOSSY, GILLIES, NYSTROM and TROTTIER hanging in the rafters, you realize, "God, what a great team." From the front office to the bench to the players, that Islanders team was one of the best the league has ever seen, and as a young fan I could not truly appreciate what I was witnessing, despite the incredible amount of joy that team gave me. It's only now, 24 years since that last Stanley Cup championship, that I look back and think how spoiled we all were.

Arbour always gave the credit to Torrey and to his great players, but anyone can tell you without Arbour, it never would have happened the way it did. Fittingly, the Islanders of 2007 came through on Arbour's night and won game No. 1,500, giving him win No. 740, and was interesting to hear Arbour say that he would really enjoy coaching this squad because it plays the game hard. Like his teams did.

It was a comeback victory. Down 2-0 after a lackluster start to the second period, the Islanders got it going when Trent Hunter - who was all over the ice - capitalized on a bad bounce suffered by Sidney Crosby, who was trying to bank the puck behind his own net. It came out to Hunter and he buried it.

Five minutes into the third, Miro Satan finished off a play that began with a long pass by Andy Sutton off the far boards to Josef Vasicek, who drew two defenders before sliding a perfect pass to Satan, whose quick one-timer beat Marc-Andre Fleury. Crosby fired one off the post moments later, but the Isles had the momentum. Even Wade Dubielewicz came up big, getting the win and making seven saves after replacing Rick DiPietro, who was cut by Crosby's stick late in the second.

The game-winner came with 2:41 remaining. Marc-Andre Bergeron - who had been told to get his shots off quicker to the net - one-timed a snap shot from the point, which Fleury got a pad on, but Satan was there to put the rebound home.

All that was left was the banner-raising ceremony, and once again, the Islanders did it up right (if good karma means anything, the Isles have it in bunches after tonight). Besides Arbour's extended family, Islanders alumni were on hand, a roster that included Mike Bossy, Gillies, Gerry Hart, Benoit Hogue (awesome player in Sega '94) Pat LaFontaine, Jean Potvin and Bryan Trottier. Yet with all those stars, the guy who heard his name chanted like the old days - STEVE WEBB!

Just a great night all around. You couldn't have asked for more or for a better outcome, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Al Arbour, we salute you.

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An update on DiPietro: According to the Islanders web site, D.P. is day-to-day after suffering "cuts near the right eye" but no damage to the eye itself. You'd think that if it was just a cut near the eye, they'd stitch it up and send him right out there. We'll see if DiPietro is in the net Tuesday night against the Rangers, a game he'd sure hate to miss.